From Rhetoric to Reality: Gender-Responsive Biodiversity Planning Under the Kunming-Montreal Framework-Lessons for Thailand’s 5th NBSAP

Abstract

              International biodiversity governance has witnessed a remarkable proliferation of gender-equality rhetoric over the past two decades, culminating in Target 23 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF)-the first standalone gender target in a multilateral environmental agreement. Yet a persistent gap separates this normative ambition from the reality of national implementation. Only 14 percent of countries include gender equality as a guiding principle in their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), and a mere 4 percent recognize women as agents of change rather than passive beneficiaries. This article interrogates this rhetoric-reality divide through a comparative analysis of NBSAP experiences from Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, India, and Canada, and evaluates the extent to which Thailand’s 5th National Biodiversity Action Plan (2023–2027) translates gender commitments into actionable policy. The findings reveal that while Thailand has aligned its Plan with the KM-GBF; The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and acknowledged women’s participatory roles, the Plan lacks dedicated gender targets, sex-disaggregated indicators, and institutional mechanisms present in leading countries. Drawing on international lessons, this article proposes a pathway for Thailand to move from rhetorical inclusion to substantive gender-responsive biodiversity governance.